Exchange
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: He winced, then realized that his hands looked paler than usual, and the shirt he was wearing, while it was his shirt, was not the one he had worn to bed. Wide-eyed, he shot up. / Be careful what you wish for, cause you might just get it. Beck/Jade.


Exchange

Beck/Jade

/

"I heard you have a date today."

Turning around, Jade West found Beck Oliver standing beside her locker, a grim look on his face, something that was, as of late, exceedingly rare. Her ex-boyfriend was never one to show emotion, and the fact that he was expressing some form of negative emotion towards her having a date at last was somewhat gratifying. She smirked. "Oh yeah, I do. With Ryder Daniels. Jealous much?"

"No," Beck spat, crossing his arms across his chest. "As if! Like really, why would I be jealous of someone going on a date with _you_?"

Jade had a feeling that he hadn't meant for it to sound the way it did, but it kind of stung anyway. Not that she would ever show it. Crossly, she turned to her locker before shooting him a scathing glare. "At least people _want _to go on a date with me. Last time I checked, you had that opposite date with Vega and… well, what else? Nothing. So there."

"And that wasn't even a date," Beck seemed to blurt out, but then he closed his mouth, probably realizing that he was just adding to Jade's ammunition. "So _what_? Girls are all over me anyway; I could accept any girl I wanted to at any given point at time."

"So what you're saying is that you think you're better than them," Jade said with an eye roll, realizing not for the first time that her ex-boyfriend was one of the most conceited boys on the planet. "Wow, Oliver, real nice of you. Those poor girls."

"Like you wouldn't say the same! You think you're better than everyone, especially me!" Beck blurted.

"Whatever!" Jade hissed back, slamming her locker door in his face. "You know what would be nice? If you'd _leave me alone_. Seriously." She gave a low growl, then stomped off, leaving him to his own devices. Part of him really did want him to leave her alone, but there was a larger part that was still in love with him, or maybe who he used to be, that wanted him to keep hounding her and showing off his obvious jealousy. This time, she actually did have a date with Ryder Daniels; it wasn't just some ploy to make him jealous. He'd asked her out, and he was hot and she was single, so the only real solution she saw was to say yes. And yes, maybe she was partially thinking about making Beck jealous, but that wasn't the whole reason.

She found herself sliding up against the wall, and with a scowl, she clenched her hands in her hair. Beck Oliver was practically the most infuriating person ever, she decided, and no way would she ever date a loser like him again.

Somehow, she wished that he would be taught a lesson and learn what it was like to be a girl like her.

/

Beck Oliver, on the other hand, was mentally beating himself up. It was obvious to anyone who knew them that he still had feelings for Jade; after all, he rarely expressed emotion, but when he did, it was of the fiercest kind. And the fact that she had a date – a real date, an actual date – made him beyond infuriated. And with Ryder Daniels, of all people! He knew that any attempt to mess up her date would lead to her hating him forever, so it was probably best for him not to even try.

Not that she didn't already hate him forever. His attempts at dissuading her from dating Ryder had ended disastrously. If only there was a way for him to ruin her date without her knowing. Now that would be nice.

With a sigh, he grabbed his bag and walked over to his truck. As soon as he got there, his phone rang.

"Cat," he said with as little enthusiasm as possible.

"Beck!" Cat squealed. "Jade's really angry – do you know what's wrong? She won't tell me, but apparently she's like, really mad at you, and – "

"I don't know. She's always mad at me, Cat. You know that." With an eye roll, he hung up the phone and drove home as quickly as possible, hoping to avoid any sort of social interaction. Surprisingly, for once he wasn't in the mood.

Once he got there, he watched a few episodes of Full House and attempted to half-heartedly do his homework, but all attempts to distract himself fell through, and at last he curled up in his bed, his head still swimming with thoughts. Absently, he wished that he could find a way to tell Jade how he really felt about the whole mess that is and was their relationship.

He grabbed a sticky note from the wad on his desk and scribbled "_Jade, I still love you_" on it, but it didn't seem sufficient in the least, and at last he wadded it up and lobbed in into the trashcan. With a frown, he stretched his body out across his bed, decided that no simple note would be enough to express how he was feeling, how he had been feeling, all the rage and the heartbreak and the passion and the love, how a part of him hated her but an even bigger part loved her still.

After a while of careful contemplation and envisioning his ex-girlfriend on a date with Ryder Daniels, Ryder _freaking_ Daniels, he dozed off to sleep, wishing not for the first time that he could fix everything.

/

It had been one of those long, lonely nights, and Jade was in the mood to do nothing but slip on one of her shirts that she had stolen from Beck when they were dating. They smelled like him, and sure, it was a bit creepy, but when she felt lonely, they were oddly comforting. Besides, it wasn't as if he would ever find out. She dozed off easily, all of the nightmares temporarily receding.

When Jade woke up, though, she quickly realized that she wasn't at her house, but she was somewhere very familiar. Her eyes flew wide open, and she quickly rolled over to see if anyone was in the bed beside her, because that would make things so _incredibly_ awkward that she –

Oh. There was no one there.

Eyes wide, she shot up. It was then that her eyes fell upon her hands – or rather, not _her_ hands, but a pair of hands so incredibly familiar that they might as well have been.

She could do nothing but stare as she realized that she must be dreaming, because these were not the thin, pale hands that belonged to her, but rather Beck Oliver's hands, manly and big and warm and strong, the ones that used to hold her own so often but were now foreign. She blinked once, twice, hoping that she could force herself out of this horrible nightmare and back into the impending reality. Somehow, it didn't work.

Pushing herself out of the bed, she determined to figure out what the heck was going on, and when Jade West determined to do something, it happened. She clambered easily over to the mirror, blinking as she took in, not her own pale face, but Beck Oliver's darkly handsome features. His mouth was open in shock, pure and utter shock, and she thought to herself that it was the most emotion she'd seen on him in a while.

Emitting a low growl (that sounded sort of hot to her own ears) she pinched a bit of her (his?) skin, then let out a yelp as she discovered that it hurt. Did this – could this _possibly_ be real? How could something like this happen? She had wished for Beck to learn what it was like to be her, but not this way, not like this! But did that – could that mean?

Quickly, she dashed over to his bedside table. Beck always laid his phone there before he went to bed, she remembered, and true to form, his phone was laying unattended. As she endeavored to turn on his phone, she remembered that he had a passcode, and though she'd known it while they were dating, he had to have changed it by now – right? After all, before it had been 5233 – _JADE_, the letters spelled out – and they weren't dating, not anymore, in fact, he practically hated her, so he had to have changed it. It was only reasonable.

The phone loaded at last, and, on a whim, she typed 5233. After a moment, the phone unlocked.

She raised an eyebrow in confusion, but went to her number anyway (which, she noticed with a frown, was no longer on his speed dial), and pressed call. The phone rang repeatedly, over and over and over, but no one answered.

Maybe – she could hardly even bring herself to think it – maybe she had been switched into Beck's body, but Beck had not been switched into hers. Maybe she'd gone into a coma or worse, maybe her own body had died. Where did that put Beck, then? As much as she hated to admit it, she would definitely miss him, much more than she could say. They'd spent the better part of 3 years together, after all. That wasn't something that just went away.

Trembling slightly, she pressed the CALL button again and waited, positioning herself on the bed comfortably – well, as comfortable as she could get when she was in her ex-boyfriend's body. His skin was warm, and his hands were big, clumsy, and awkward, especially since she wasn't exactly used to having manhands. On a whim, she ran a hand through his hair, and realized that it was actually kind of calming – perhaps that was why Beck had done it whenever he was annoyed.

Frowning, she leaned back against his pile of pillows, inhaling the familiar smell.

It was hard to hide how good it felt to be in his RV.

/

Beck Oliver woke up to the sound of incessant vibrating. With a sigh, he reached over to his bedside table, intending to shut it off so he could go back to sleep, but his bedside table seemed to have magically vanished. Before he could exclaim in surprise, he tumbled off his bed.

_Ouch. _He winced, then realized that his hands looked paler than usual, and the shirt he was wearing, while it was his shirt, was not the one he had worn to bed. Wide-eyed, he shot up.

The room was not his room. He knew it vaguely; Jade rarely showed anyone her room, but she'd let him come over a few times. It was just the same as he remembered, but she'd hidden all her pictures of him, and with good reason. But well, who knew? She had obviously been wearing his shirt, after all.

He chuckled, and then the reality of the situation hit him. Yes, Jade had been wearing his shirt, but now he was wearing it, which could mean only one thing – _he was Jade West._

One look in the mirror confirmed it; his hair was longer, darker, streaked with purple, and his eyes were of a captivating blue-green hue that kept his attention for longer than it probably should've. He stared in the mirror for longer than was necessary, then blinked twice – this was _Jade_, after all, and as much as he still felt with her he was infuriated with her as well. But this – this meant that he would be the one going out with Ryder, not Jade! Internally, he rejoiced.

Then his mind snapped back to the buzzing. The phone ringing – maybe it had been Ryder? Quickly, he walked back over to where Jade's phone sat on her bedside table. It was buzzing again, and he pressed the answer call button (Jade had never bothered with a passcode; she was her own protection).

"Yo," he said casually, then smacked himself internally. It was hard to imagine Jade saying that word, and it was even harder to hear her saying it. Yes, he had her voice now. This was insane, to say the least.

"Beck," snapped his voice in response. "First of all, I would _never_ say that. Second of all, you are Beck, right? Heaven help me if you're like, Vega or someone."

"Yes, it's Beck," Beck replied, eyes wide. "This is weird. I mean, talking to myself and hearing my own voice respond, but instead of me, it's you."

"Trust me, I know," said Jade or himself, whichever, in response. "But just one question – HOW THE HECK DID THIS HAPPEN? I mean, one minute I'm asleep in my own bed, and next minute I wake up in your stupid RV in your dumb body."

"Says the girl who sleeps in my shirt," Beck teased in response.

"Yeah… let's not talk about that," Jade murmured quickly, sounding more than a bit embarrassed, much to Beck's delight. It was still odd hearing his own voice, but it was fairly easy to detect emotions from it. "Beck, you didn't _do _something to cause this, right?'

"No! Why would I do that?" he exclaimed indignantly. "Look, I'm just as annoyed – upset – by this as you are, okay? We just have to find a way to fix it, and until we do, we have to act like the other. That means you can't wear a dress to school, _Jade_."

"Darn," muttered Jade. "That means you can't act _nice_ to Vega or any chiz like that. No reason to let the school believe I'm going soft, right?"

"Fine, fine. No embarrassing each other. This doesn't need to be an all-out war. We can be mature, right? We're both… young adults," he finished awkwardly.

"Right," said Jade. "Says the boy who still hasn't changed his password from JADE, well, the numbers that spell it. That's really mature."

Something about the snark in his (her) voice scared him, but he bit his lip and sucked it up. "Jade… I…" he said, and then realized that he had no real explanation. "So I'm guessing we're both going to school?"

"It'll be suspicious if we skip," whispered Jade. "And unless we want to be sent to a mental asylum, I suggest we keep all of this as quiet as possible. No telling Vega, Cat, Andre, Sikowitz, Shapiro… any of them. This is between you and me, kay?"

"Roger that," he replied, but his heart was thudding erratically in his (her) chest and he didn't exactly want to think about why. "See you at school… Beck."

"See you, Jade," she answered, but the voice on the other end sounded clipped, annoyed, and he had to wonder if that was how he sounded when he talked to her. It wasn't intentional, but sometimes she just infuriated him. She infuriated everybody. Yet no one had the ability to say no to her.

She hung up, and he was left when the phone in his lap. With a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and meandered over to the mirror, eyes never straying from the girl that stared back at him.

School, right, he reminded himself. Showing would undoubtedly be too awkward, so he gathered up some dark jeans and a plaid shirt that may or may not have been his at one point and slipped into the bathroom, pulling them on as fluidly as possible and trying to keep his eyes shut. Once he was done dressing, he glanced at her in the mirror and decided to try to put on some makeup as well. He'd never been particularly good at makeup; he was a stereotypical guy, really, but he tried his best anyway, smearing stuff on her eyes and cheeks until she looked almost the same as she did every day. Good enough, he decided, then grabbed her bag and slipped down the stairs.

Her brother Jeremiah (and one of Beck's favorite children) was sitting at the table, and he grinned over at Beck, revealing that he'd lost one of his front teeth. "Jade, you're leaving early today! You aren't gonna eat?"

"Yeah, I guess I could eat something," Beck coincided. He had always thought Jade was thin, and she looked frailer, paler, after the breakup. It could benefit her to eat something healthy. At last, he settled on a muffin and an orange. "Where's dad?" he asked as he sat down at the table.

"Where he always is, in the office." Jeremiah rolled his eyes. "You can't leave yet anyway. You gotta take me to school, 'member?"

"Yeah, kid, I know." Beck felt a sudden rush of affection for Jade; before they broke up, Jade had adamantly refused to be her brother's chauffeur, despite Beck's protests about how it would be the right thing to do. Apparently that was just another thing she'd changed her mind on. "Come on, kid, hurry up. I've, um, got some things I have to do this morning."

Jeremiah just flashed him an adorable grin and shoved the rest of the muffin in his mouth. He threw his backpack on, and walked over to Beck, grabbing his hand. "Kay, Jade, I'm ready."

With a small smile, Beck led Jeremiah out the door. Being Jade couldn't possibly be _too_ bad.

/

Jade, in the form of Beck, was obviously less nice than the real Beck, and so when girls crowded around his car, Jade made sure to yell at them to back off (and she added that he wasn't interested, never had been, never would be). She figured that somehow she was doing him a favor, because obviously she wasn't jealous. It wasn't like she cared what girls flirted with him, right?

Besides, she was in no mood to deal with intolerable, annoying, desperate chicks, and the ride to school was insanely peaceful. His phone rang once, but one glance at the caller ID and she hung up. Tori Vega wasn't getting any favors from Beck today.

Once she arrived at the school, she decided he could do good to act a bit less dorky, and so she slipped on his dark sunglasses and then strut from his car to the school confidently, a smirk on her face. She could _definitely_ have some fun with this.

"Beck, you look hot today," called some girl, and she satisfied her by blowing a kiss. It was a bit odd, but since she was in a guy's body, she supposed it was justifiable.

Seeing herself standing by her locker, though, was perhaps the weirdest thing yet. She knew where Beck's locker was; they'd certainly made out in front of it enough times for it to be imprinted in her memory, but it was her first reflex to head to her own locker.

Beck spun around at once, evidently just as wide-eyed and stunned at seeing himself in front of him. "Wow," he said, blinking. "That's… that's definitely weird."

"Please," Jade said, slipping the sunglasses off his face and into her pocket. "Okay, seriously. I don't stutter. If you're going to be me, you're going to need to gain some self-confidence."

"And you're going to need to lose some," retorted Beck, putting a hand on her hip in a sassy manner that made Jade look more like a disrespectful teenage diva than a terrifying beast. "Really, Jade? Look at all those girls – they're going to be following you around all day now."

"Great." Jade groaned. "You need to stop being attractive."

With a frown, Beck scratched her head. "I'm really not sure if that was a compliment or an insult."

"If you're going to be me, you have to learn to perfect the art of both insults and backhanded compliments. I can't have _anyone_ thinking I've gone soft… or worse, don't know how to insult people. In no way, shape, or form am I _too nice_. I mean, you're a jerk and you sure know how to insult _me_, so I'm sure this shouldn't be a problem for you. Right?" Jade pressed, folding his arms folded across his chest.

"I don't know what you mean," Beck replied coolly, the words sounding venomous in Jade's automatically sarcastic voice.

"Oh, lemme see," Jade said, snapping his fingers. "Oh, Tori baby, I love you sooo much! Don't worry about Jade; she's a jerk anyway so she deserves _everything_ that's coming to her! You guys aren't even friends! Now come here and give Mr. Beck some sugar."

"That is _not_ how I sounded," Beck protested, taking a step closer to intimidate her or something like that.

"Um, dude, I've got your voice – I'm like ninety percent sure that's _exactly_ how you sounded," Jade replied crossly, making his eyebrows narrow to show that she wasn't hurt, but merely annoyed, by his words. There was no pride in taking someone's words to heart.

"That's not what I said, Jade," Beck answered patiently, "and how do you even know about that, anyway? I thought you were too busy hijacking Tori's Platinum Awards performance."

"I gave that up. Your bitterness is showing, anyway," Jade spat back, her anger exuding from every pore. "And Tori, dumb girl she is, left her webchat on, and Cat left her computer open, so I saw _everything_, and you'd be dumb to think that – "

Thankfully, they were interrupted before Tori could say much else. "Beck!" she exclaimed adamantly, hands on her hips. "Do you know what I've suffered? Trina was singing at the top of her lungs today, she always does that when she has an audition, and I nearly got out of the car and walked. Seriously! And I called you to see if you'd give me a ride, but you didn't answer."

Beck shot Jade a glare, but Jade just smirked in response. "Oops. Must have not heard my phone ring. My sincerest apologies." Beck's voice sounded a bit sarcastic, though, much to Jade's amusement. Messing with Tori, she decided, would be one of the most fun things about this whole mess.

"Beck, are you okay?" Tori asked, obviously concerned. "You sound – oh!" She jumped as her eyes landed upon Jade, then backed up. "Jade! I didn't see you there."

"Yeah, hi Vega," Beck greeted her, trying to sound disinterested. His tone wasn't angry enough for Jade, though, so she sent him a glare in warning. Both of them stayed like that for a moment, glaring at each other, when Tori tentatively spoke up again.

"Is everything okay? You guys seem angry." She gave a small, complacent laugh. "I didn't even know you guys talked anymore."

"We don't," Jade snapped, and Tori's eyes shot up to her in alarm.

"Beck?" she questioned, eyes wide. It was pretty much a given that Tori hadn't seen him like this, although Jade most certainly had.

Inhaling deeply, Jade just shook her head. "Bye, Tori. Bye…" She wasn't certain what to call Beck, so she just raised an eyebrow at him and walked away, wondering how the two of them were supposed to get through this day, and all the ones that were to follow. They had hardly made it through the first hour without causing a nuclear explosion.

She glanced down at her feet, three sizes too big, and then ran a hand through her hair, short, sort of greasy. It was odd how people talked about becoming the embodiment of something they hated, when she had, quite literally, become the embodiment of what she hated.

And yet, at the same time, she didn't hate it – _him_ – at all.

/

"Jade!" Cat exclaimed as soon as Beck walked into the classroom. "Oh my gosh, you look so pretty today! Is this because of your date tonight?" She winked, then grinned and wrapped her arms around Beck in a too-tight hug.

It was odd, having someone glad to see him; most of the day, everyone had stayed as far away as possible, which, for a social butterfly like Beck, was more than a bit disheartening. He had to wonder if this was what Jade's life was like every day – if so, it was no wonder that she could be jealous and bitter and downright mean. Who _wouldn't _be?

"Date tonight?" Beck questioned, and then he remembered that Jade had a date with Ryder tonight. This, he thought, was the perfect opportunity, the reason they'd been switched, his ulterior motive. This was the bright side, the silver lining. He smiled. "Oh, yeah, I forgot."

"You were really excited about it, Jade," Cat pointed out, twirling a piece of red hair around her finger. "You don't seem really excited now! How could you forget? And hey, maybe Beck will get jealous." She gave a small giggle, her dark eyes staring pointedly at him.

"Oh, I doubt that," Beck replied, his mouth dry. How much did Cat know? Was Jade still, you know, _into _him? Being Jade was hard when he no longer knew all of her secrets. Months ago, this would have been so easy, and now it was all so hard. "I mean…" He stared down at Jade's combat boots.

"You're confused; I get it," Cat said softly, biting down on her lip as she looked at him. "But Jade, I really do think that Beck still cares about you, and even if you won't admit it, I know you still care about him too. And this is me speaking… object… objec… without bias."

"I appreciate the sentiment," Beck answered, using the biggest words he knew since Jade always used big words, "but Cat, Ja – _Beck _and I are very different people, and maybe it was for the best that we didn't work out."

"You always say that," Cat said, jutting her bottom lip out. "But I never believe you. You always seem like you're trying to convince yourself instead of me." She gave him an adorably innocent smile, one that showed him that she meant every word she was saying.

"Look, Cat…" he said with a sigh, but it was too late. Jade was walking in, Tori and Andre trailing behind her. She shot Beck a self-confident smile, one that he returned, and then she walked over to sit down right next to him. Right now, he supposed, was the time when normal Jade would tell him to get the heck out of here, but he just rolled his eyes and gave the impression that "Jade" was letting it slide for once. Everyone gaped at both of them.

Sikowitz walked in, clapping twice. "All right, guys! Let's do some script reading today. Um… Beck, Cat, Tori, Robbie, Andre, let's go!"

"What about me?" slipped out before Beck could stop himself, and then he felt incredibly embarrassed. Jade sent him a scathing glare, but Sikowitz just shrugged.

"Promise not to be a gank and we've got a deal."

Feeling more than slightly offended (for Jade, more than anyone else), he shrugged and stepped up to the stage along with his friends. Tori offered him a smile that seemed kind of sympathetic, but also sort of smug, and the smug smile was mirrored on _his_ face. It was like she was grateful that someone else was finally getting to experience what it was like to be her.

Slowly, he walked up to the stage, taking a place beside Jade. Jade just smirked over at him. "_I_ say that you should play the old maid. Probably you're going to end up that way, so it's best to get in some practice, am I right?"

Yet no one seemed to think her words mean. Everyone was silent, except for the scattered snickers. No one spoke up for her; no one said a word in defense, and it occurred to him that, when they had been dating, his occasional defense of her had been the only defense she had received. It was saddening, yet at the same time, it was enlightening.

He inhaled deeply, met the brown eyes that hadn't left his face (probably trying to see what he would do), and at last he spoke. "You know, Beck, you haven't got the right to be cruel to me. I mean, yeah, we used to date, but ending it was kind of a mutual thing, right, and… you didn't treat me all that great, either. Contrary to popular belief and all."

Looking surprised, Jade met his gaze and then gave a small nod of his head. "You're right," she said, and that was all she had to say.

An understanding, though, had passed between the two of them, and for the first time in a while, Beck Oliver felt that he truly understood Jade West.

/

Being Beck Oliver was not all it was cracked up to be, Jade thought as she walked down the hallways. Every guy seemed somewhat jealous of him, and some of them even went so far as to make fun of him. _Hey, pretty boy_, they would say. _Got another acting job? My girlfriend keeps comparing me to you. Think you could lend me some of that luscious hair? No, you say? I'll rip it out of your pretty little skull, then?_

It was hard for Jade to keep her composure. First of all, she wasn't used to being talked to that way, and second of all, most of the stuff they were saying about Beck wasn't even true. She would know. But she kept her head high and ignored them, deciding that it was typical of him to avoid confrontation except when absolutely necessary (or, of course, when it pertained to her).

Even the attention from girls made her uncomfortable. Maybe it was because she was a girl, but the fact that they seemed to care nothing for Beck's wishes and never backed off just added to the issue. She told them multiple times that she wasn't interested, tried as hard as she could to exude indifference toward all of them, but they still clambered for her attention. It was annoying more than gratifying.

Honestly, Jade wasn't sure how he put up with it all the time. Hardly ever did he speak a harsh word to anyone, aside from her, that was. She'd never really considered how much stress was loaded onto her ex-boyfriend's shoulders, and now she was _literally_ getting to walk a mile in his shoes. It was crazy how different it was than what she had envisioned. There were no cookie-cutter potential girlfriends, no one bowed to his every whim, and even Vega was annoying more than friendly. Was this what it was like every day for him? She honestly could not imagine having to deal with all of this every day and still continuing to be nothing but perfectly cordial. No wonder he had gone off on her so easily.

One of the guys poked Jade in Beck's shoulder, causing her to spin around. The guy chuckled. "Hey, pretty boy, you whipping your hair? Careful now, don't need to be wasting your talents – there are no brainless bimbos around to see."

Jade grit her teeth. "Look," she hissed scathingly. "I usually don't say stuff like this, but you're pushing me too far, _buddy_. Beck – _I _am a good guy. Rarely ever do I even say a harsh word to anyone. All I've done is, well, look attractive, and you've decided that I'm on the top of your Most Wanted list. Just because of that! I don't want any of your girlfriends, okay? And they just think I'm hot, anyway; they don't want me because of who I am. My advice to you? Go take a shower or two; maybe then you'll be semi-attractive too. There's no need to insult others so you feel better about yourself."

Jade had halfway expected a punch in the face or two, so she could show off her fighting skills and earn Beck some street cred. But instead of punching, the kid turned like a coward and simply fled the scene, causing Jade to roll her eyes and walk off. These guys were all such chickens if they couldn't even beat the skinny, pretty boy Beck Oliver. _Honestly_.

It was true, though, what she'd said. Most girls just looked at the trivial aspects of Beck, at his hair or his appearance or his 'chocolate brown eyes', and she looked beyond that – she had too, after all. She wasn't exactly the type to go for the pretty boys, unless you counted Moose, which she didn't, since he was practically an act of desperation. She went for his insatiable wit, his enjoyment of rare coffees, his collection of all sorts of different movies, his acting ability, the way his face crinkled up when he smiled, the way he was the first boy to show an ounce of respect for her as a girl rather than a monster or a good-looking piece of female.

She wondered if the boys would leave Beck alone now. She certainly hoped so, since he had never done anything to warrant their abuse, and jerk or not, she still cared about him more than she would like to admit. He might not do the same for her, but oh well. It was time for her to be the bigger person, regardless of whether she got credit for it or not.

Little did she know that someone had seen the whole thing.

/

Beck Oliver stepped back, his head buzzing. It was odd, seeing _Jade_ stick up for him, and even in his body, he could see the fire blazing in her eyes. He'd dealt with it for ages, tried to turn the other cheek, but somehow it got _Jade_, Jade his ex-girlfriend, Jade who he'd thought didn't even care about him anymore, all fired up? There was something strange about the scenario.

As he walked home, he contemplated his scheme to ruin Jade's date. Was it wrong, now that she had helped her? But he knew it wasn't – just like her getting his tormentors to leave him alone, it was crucial. Ryder Daniels was not a good guy, not in the least, and he had a feeling that his intentions with Jade were far from honorable. Jade was just too blinded by his hotness to see it, even though Beck was way hotter than Ryder could ever hope to be. Plus he had better hair.

He did, though, change into a dress just before he went; it wasn't his first time wearing one, after all. Once he got there, he sat down at the table. Ryder, much to his amusement, wasn't there yet, and after ten more long minutes of waiting, Beck began to wonder absently if Jade had, in fact, been stood up, which would make him even _angrier_ at this guy. But after two more minutes, Ryder showed up, looking casual and not at all hurried. Beck raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry I'm late," Ryder said casually, handing him a red rose. "I had some prior commitments, but I'm here now." He gave a suave wink, and Beck tried not to vomit.

"Whatever," Beck replied dismissively, giving Ryder a sharp glare. "I mean, you _bothered_ to show up. Must be tough with a girl like me."

"A girl like you? No – you're one of the hottest girls I've ever seen," Ryder said, fake earnestness coating his voice as he sat down across from him. Beck wanted to punch him even more. It was obvious his intentions; he had only complimented her appearance, not her personality or her likes or dislikes, but her appearance, which was admittedly very desirable.

"Yeah, thanks," Beck said, trying out Jade's infamous sarcastic tone.

"You okay?" Ryder inquired, giving him one of those fake-sexy smiles. "What would you like to eat tonight? I'll pay just for this time, since it is the strong man's job."

Beck grit his teeth to restrain himself from informing him that he'd insisted on paying for every date he went on with Jade, and instead replied with Jade's usual retort to that suggestion. "That's an awfully chauvinist, misogynist thing to say, don't you think?"

"I don't even know what that means," Ryder said, looking incredibly nervous.

"Well, then you're an idiot," Beck hissed, giving him a typical Jade West glare. "And you're stupid if you even think that –"

"Dude!" someone interrupted, and Beck spun around to see Jade, obviously in his body, standing beside them, looking like he was fuming mad. "What the heck do you think you're doing?" she got out at last, and he could tell she wasn't pleased with him in the least. Oh well.

"I thought you guys broke up," Ryder muttered, looking puzzled as he glanced from Beck to Jade with wide eyes.

"We did," chorused both of them at the same time, before they turned back to each other. Jade fixed him with an unfeeling glare. "Look, I thought we agreed to – I mean, I tried to – I can't believe you! Just when I thought we _might_ be able to get along! Every time I attempt to be friends, _you_ shoot it down. I can't believe people think _I'm_ the villain here!"

"I think this is for the best! He's a jerk!" Beck growled back, jabbing a thumb at Ryder. "And I don't know what _you_ see in him. Maybe you want to move on, and that's a-okay with me – date who you like and all that – but I'd think you'd have better taste than someone like this guy."

"So if I leave now, I won't get a good night kiss?" Ryder inquired, puckering up his lips.

"Ew," Beck hissed, elbowing the guy in the guts rather hard. "See, this is what I meant! He only likes you because of your appearance, not because of who you are!"

"Oh, right, and _you_ liked me for so much more than my appearance, did you? Since my personality was always _so _displeasing to you," Jade retorted, his arms crossed firmly across his chest. "You've definitely got some nerve, Oliver. You're unbelievable."

"Well," Ryder said, clearing his throat, "since you're speaking in third person now, and I have _no_ clue what's even going on, I guess it's my cue to go. Maybe next time, pretty lady." Ryder pressed a kiss to the cheek belonging to Jade, making Beck feel as if he was going to vomit, and then he vanished through the door, leaving the switched exes to themselves.

"And NOW you've ruined my date. He was probably just saying that to be polite, you know! He won't ever want to go out with me again." Jade – Beck's body - looked more upset than angry now, which concerned him. While Jade was often angry, she was rarely truly upset, and it took something of horrible proportions to truly upset the girl.

"He's not the kind of guy you want to be with, Jade. Trust me. There are guys that will like you for who you are," Beck told her softly in ways of comfort. _Like me_, he added silently.

"Just leave it," Jade muttered, storming out the door, though the emotion seemed awfully out of place on Beck's face.

Beck hesitated for two seconds, realizing the insane parallels that had just popped up, and then he went after her. "Jade, wait!" he called as he followed her out the door.

This time, he wasn't going to let her get away that easily.

/

Jade perched herself on the curb, watching the cars speed by and wondering how she'd gotten herself into this situation. Probably no one would ever want to date her ever again, due to the interference of her ex-boyfriend. What did _he_ care, anyway? After a minute or two of her silent pondering, someone joined her, and she didn't even have to glance over to see who it was.

He didn't speak, and neither did she. For a few minutes, they just sat there watching the cars, each lost in their own thoughts, until Beck spoke. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not really," she answered, and they fell silent again. It wasn't awkward like one would imagine it to be; it was the oddly comfortable silence they had adopted when they were still in a relationship. It was like alone time, only she wasn't alone. Now, though, she felt as if she was alone, even though he was right there beside her.

For a few more minutes they sat in silence, and then Beck spoke again. "How long do you think we're going to be like this? Switched? Is there some lesson to be learned, or is this just some scientific malfunction type thing? I don't… think I understand."

"Well, we wished for this, didn't we? Or at least I did," Jade said briskly. "I wanted you to see what it was like to be me, so you could understand why I acted the way I did, why I _act_ the way I _do._ It's not easy being me."

"I know. I understand that now," Beck told her solemnly, shifting himself so that he was now looking at her. "You must feel so lonely, and it felt like no one understood how I… how you felt. And the way people treated you – I can't even imagine how it must be to live like that every day, and I'm sorry for the way I treated you."

"The thing is that you can imagine, and you do." Jade looked up, her fiery eyes meeting his. "I didn't realize that the guys at school were treating you like that. I guess this was kind of helpful, because I mean, we've been having a lot of the same problems, haven't we? Both of us, outcasts of a sort. Even though all the girls like you, the guys… they aren't so pleased, and I guess I know how that feels. I've always known how that feels. And I'm sorry too, for assuming you had the perfect life."

"Wow, is this Jade West apologizing?" Beck teased, elbowing her lightly. "Unbelievable."

She glanced up at him. "Shut up, you absolute idiot." But there was a smile tugging at the edge of her lips as she met his piercing gaze, despite her inhibitions.

"Sorry I ruined your, um, your date," Beck said gruffly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I didn't realize that you were so into him. He was just… he was a jerk, and some of the stuff he said set me off, plus the chiz he did to Tori… well, I hope you can understand why I did what I did."

"It's cool," Jade said with a shrug. "You're right; he's a jerk. But I thought that if I went out with him…"

"Then what?" Beck prodded.

A smirk made its way onto her face. "I thought maybe you'd get jealous. And besides, you kissed Tori."

"Well, guess what. It worked." Beck rolled his eyes, but then stared at her again in that way that made her more than a little uncomfortable. "And I didn't kiss Tori. Yeah, I tried to... but it made me realize something. That I never really wanted her. There was only ever one person that I wanted."

As if it was a reflex movement, he began to lean in, and unconsciously she did the same, until at last their lips met. It was as if there was an explosion as soon as their lips touched, and both of them were thrown backward, the wind knocked out of them, and for a moment, everything in Jade's line of vision went black.

When at last she opened her eyes again, she glanced downward to see a set of pale hands with black fingernails. She grinned widely, glancing over at Beck, who was equally in awe. "We're back," she hissed, practically throwing herself at him. He caught her, though, and held her close.

"We're back," he repeated, giving her a chagrined smile. "And I hope this doesn't mean we go back to the way things were before, because…"

"I don't want them to," Jade said firmly. "I mean, if one kiss can bring about that sort of change, who knows what another kiss could do?"

"I say we find out," Beck retorted, leaning in and kissing her again. Once he pulled back, he said breathlessly, "That was even better, mostly because it was sort of awkward kissing myself."

"Oh, shut up, you baby," she chided him, pulling him down to kiss her again. And they stayed like that for ages, both of them seated on the curb outside of the fancy restaurant, just kissing and laughing like nothing big had ever occurred.

But something had changed, something big, something that only they could feel.

/

"I heard you're back with that West chick again," said one girl to Beck as soon as he walked through the doors of the school. "Like, why? She's ugly and horrible to everybody. Ew."

"She's the most beautiful girl I know," Beck replied, trying not to get worked up. "And she's smart, interesting, and funny. She's original."

"Gross, don't start waxing poetic all over me," retorted the girl, scurrying away like she might somehow catch a disease if she stayed to close to him. With a roll of his eyes, Beck walked back over to Jade, who was leaning against his locker and looking like she was deep in thought.

"Do you really think it's a good idea for us to give this another try?" she inquired casually, but she was biting down on the corner of her lip.

"I believe so," Beck said, kissing her gently on the cheek. "After all, everything that could go wrong already has."

"Isn't that the truth," Jade replied with a laugh.

He slipped his arm around her shoulders, as gently as possible, and with that, the matter was settled. Until Cat ran over to them, squealing about how cute they were and how happy she was that they were acting normal again, and wrapping Jade in a big hug till Beck managed to wrestle her back.

It was good to have things back to normal, or at least, as normal as they ever got.

/

**A/N: blech this was really bad but I loved the idea and I wanted to write it so yeah. Please R&R if possible thank ya **** (also someone else gave me the idea yay)**


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